Auro Jr

Club

Tombense

Position

Right-Back

Nationality

Brazil

Date of birth

1996-01-23

Birthplace

Jaú, São Paulo, Brazil

Height

1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)

Signing / transfer fee

on Loan

Auro Alvaro da Cruz Junior (born 23 January 1996), known as Auro Jr. or just Auro, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Santos, on loan from Major League Soccer club Toronto FC.

Club career
Brazil
Auro Jr. began his club career with São Paulo in 2010 with the youth side. In 2014, he made his senior debut, earning a starting role with the club as a teenager under coach Muricy Ramalho, but his standing fell after Ramalho's departure in 2015, relegating him to the bench.

After struggling to make appearances with the first team, he went on a series of loans. In 2016, he signed on loan with Clube Atlético Linense. Later in the same season, he was set to join Sport Club do Recife on loan (including being introduced by the club as a new signing), however, he was prevented from joining the club due to a Brazilian rule that prevents a player from representing three clubs during the same year, as he had already made appearances for License and São Paulo in 2016. Instead, he returned to São Paulo, where he mainly featured with the U-20 team, winning two U-20 titles that season.

The following year, in 2017, he joined América Mineiro on loan, making a total of 16 appearances between Brazil's Primeira Liga, Mineiro 1, and Copa do Brasil. He started off well with Minero, but suffered a knee injury, requiring him to miss time due to an operation. He subsequently returned to São Paulo in 2018, after his loan spell had ended.

Toronto FC
On 13 February 2018, it was announced that Auro Jr. had been signed on loan by Major League Soccer club Toronto FC with an option to buy. He made the decision to come to Toronto after speaking to his São Paulo teammate and former Toronto FC striker Gilberto, turning down opportunities to play in South America, Portugal and Spain (including with La Liga club CD Leganés) in favour of joining Toronto. He made his club debut on 20 February 2018, in a 2–0 away win against the Colorado Rapids in the first leg of their round of 16 CONCACAF Champions League tie. In his debut season with the club, Auro made 28 appearances across all competitions, registering five assists.


Auro Jr. playing for Toronto FC
On 17 December 2018, Toronto opted to purchase Auro Jr. permanently from São Paulo. In 2019, he was determined to be the best right-back in the league according to Opta advanced statistics. He scored his first goal in a pre-season exhibition match on 1 April 2021, from a penalty kick, against Colum